Willing to prove it with evidence, says Cong. MLC
Congress MLC T. Jeevan Reddy has alleged a huge scam of ₹600 crore in the paddy procurement with the connivance of millers and government officials.
At a press conference here, he said millers were under-weighing 5% – and this is about 3 lakh metric tonnes out of the 60 lakh metric tonnes the government has claimed to have procured. If five kilos is under-weighed in every quintal, the scam leads to around ₹600 crore, he claimed adding that he is ready to prove his charges with all the evidence. “In Jagtial district alone, millers have ‘looted’ ₹100 crore.”
The senior Congress leader alleged that the State government is following the Centre in cheating farmers by not ensuring the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Why is the TRS government unable to give any clarity on MSP, he asked.
He said the government needs to spend ₹2,000 crore for paddy and another Rs. 1,000 crore for maize to save the farmers. “If the TRS is willing to announce some financial help to farmers who raise both these crops, the Congress would be with the government in its fight against the Centre,” he said.
Mr. Jeevan Reddy said no State in the country is restricting farmers from cultivating what they prefer to and asked why is the Telangana government hell-bent on threatening farmers not to cultivate paddy?
